Photoactive n-type oxide AZO-AgNP-AZO multilayer films for photovoltaic application

We report on the simulation of the absorption cross-section of an aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) - silver nanoparticles (AgNP)-AZO multilayer structure by the finite element method in Comsol Multiphysics. A key feature of our approach is consideration of two plasmon materials such as AgNP and highly doped AZO. The simulation is based on the Drude-Lorentz-Sommerfeld model. The absorption cross section spectra were obtained for structures with different thicknesses of AZO layers and different amounts of silver nanoparticles, and at a different incidence of illumination. As a result, several resonance peaks were detected in the absorption cross-section spectra. The enhancement of absorption in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum is associated with plasmon oscillations of interacting silver nanoparticles and a plasmon resonance in an AZO nanolayer, respectively. The presence of several resonances in the visible region, as well as the resonance in the near-IR region, makes this material promising for photovoltaics. (paper)